Soil magazine stephanie caroline quyen

The Daily Scoop Special Edition: Soil Organism of the Year-Nematodes

b ar r a rB ! o f de oems i s n k i wp P o o L Ya

ic

P. 3 is about the wonderful Leigh A. & her exciting life.

Rip out your own propaganda poster.

Soil Organism of the Year To help and improve the soil, the various organisms are key. Fungi, protists, bacteria, and nematodes are just a few of the many organisms that makes soil healthier for our plants and us.

Under the Phylum Nematoda, there is a round worm organism called a nematode. There are several different kinds of nematodes such as soil nematodes (Acrobeles ciliatus).

Soil nematodes live in in the different topographic levels of soil, and are about 1/500 of an inch in diameter and 1/20 of an inch in length. They feed on fungi, others feed on bacteria, different ones feed on algae, and some feed on other nematodes. Some nematodes cause diseases, but far more are extremely beneficial to the soil.

Nematodes do various actions to benefit the soil. Some nematodes cycle nutrients in soil, and others control diseases. They help by mineralizing nutrients,

this means they make plant-usable forms of nutrients. Eating decayed material, is an additional benefit of a nematode. When eating low amounts of nematodes it simulates the growth rate of prey populations.

The bacterial-feeders start the bacterial growth, plant-feeders start plant growth, and the chain continues. At high densities, however, they will cause population of their prey to go down. That could cause bad effects like decreased plant productivity. Nematode grazing might be able to control the balance between the bacteria and fungi, and the species in the microbial society. By holding live and dormant microbes in their digestive systems and their surfaces, they help distrib-

ute the bacteria and fungi.

They are used as a food source for predators higher up on the food chain such as predatory nematodes, soil microarthropods, and soil insects. While some nematodes cause diseases, others consume organisms that cause diseases. Nematodes could potentially be biological controlling agents. All the benefits of nematodes not only affect the soil, but us.

With help from the nematodes our soil can be healthier. A healthier soil can provide more nutrient and delicious foods, and a better earth to live in. Do you like to take hikes? Do you like to bike, or do you play a sport? Do you enjoy reading in nature? Well then the nematodes are supporting those activities.

Why Soil Matters Soil is important for so many reasons. It contributes to many vital things we need for life on earth. It channels and regulates our water after rain or snowfall. It also acts as a filter for water. It cleans it up before it reaches lakes and rivers.

Soil and climate are the reasons for many of the major forests around the world and also provides nutrients for the forests. Soil is able to support a variety of beautiful plants and trees.

The wood from the trees are used for many different purposes like timber and fuel.

In the last 50 years, in particular, soils have been used to produce increasing amounts of food as the world population has increased at a very rapid rate. Farming the soil to produce fruits and vegetables has been around for a really long time. We rely on farmers to grow our crops and the farmers rely on soil so they can grow them.

Soil also provides a home for many plants and animals and organisms. In a teaspoonful of soil there are estimated to be billions of organisms. It’s the foundation for buildings, railways and roads. It also may help with climate change.

Soil also preserves our history. We can obtain a lot about our past by excavating our soil. Many roman remains have been found that are now in museums.

So basically soil is important for life! It’s kind of hard to imagine life without soil. We all take it for granted. Without soil we would not have so many things we need. Our lives depend on soil.

Page 4

Volume 1, Issue 1

Soil Needs Help Without soil there would be no life on this planet. As years go on the more we need to preserve our soil. Just like air and water our soil has challenges right now and needs to be taken care of.

The two main challenges are erosion and desertification.

Erosion is when the surface of the Earth gets worn down and is caused by wind, water, air or glacial ice. Erosion

breaks down rocks, mountains, and land surfaces, and then these broken pieces are carried away by rain, wind or rushing rivers.

Desertification is a result of poor land management and turns a productive into a nonproductive desert. This mainly occurs in semiarid areas bordering on deserts and effects onesixth of the world’s population and a quarter of the world’s land.

Breaking News You are among the first to witness this brilliant, new found idea, mulch. This great new invention has just been used to enhance soil conditions. By maintaining moisture, improving soil’s structure, and decrease weeds in the soil mulching is very beneficial. So after you are finished reading this article, go out start your mulching!

The worlds population is growing rapidly year by year.

There was about 1 billion people in 1800, then tripled to 3 billion by 1960, doubled to 6 billion by 2000 and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. 9 billion people are going to rely on our soil.

Lets take care of it while we can.

Volume 1, Issue 1

Page 5

Volume 1, Issue 1

Lee A. Interview Leigh A. is an upstanding citizen of Los Angeles County. She has always been a teacher and artist but after her heart attack when she realized she wanted to take the work she loved and make a difference with it. The message she teaches to take care of our planet. Ms. A now teaches kids and the homeless through art about the environment, the importance of it, and how to save it. Also, how to conserve water and eating healthy.

She is currently working at the Los Angeles County Arboretum on landscaping. One of the things she made is a giant mosque design with kids. Her favorite part of her work is being with the kids and inspiring others. Leigh loves it

so much she has traveled to Africa, China, Costa Rica, and Mexico to do public art with the children. Not only has Ms. A done that work but, she also changed the the Los Angeles County Law so that the people have right to the street water.

Leigh A. is an upstander and an inspiration to many. She is raising awareness about our environment to our future for the future because we are unconsciously destroying it.

She is also inspires people to do something with your life and make it count

Page 6

Art By Caroline R. This great new piece

by Caroline R. is a no name piece that was just released. Here are some words from the artist: As we have studied in the Soil Unit I felt I wanted to illustrate a picture. This picture represents how a lot of our nature is masked by the cities we build, or the electronics we use. The trees, flowers, and vines are breaking through what we put down because we have abandoned our junk in a part of nature, and now nature is reclaiming her space.

“One wild and precious life poems” Urban World

Quyen Above me A plump dragonfly hovers like a helicopter As I hear the bristling wail of a drought-stricken tree Like the cars on the freeway The smell of pepper Hangs in the air Like my grandma’s holiday stew I stop where I stand Next to a rose bush I have been pricked by barbed wire So old that it has dried up, turned brown Dark clouds pass over the sun The world becomes darker in shades A siren, an ambulance, in the distance An urban world penetrates this sanctuary

“One wild and precious life poems�

Caroline May 21, 2014 The Brown Chair with a View Sitting in a little brown chair I am engulfed with nature To my right a flower beckons to a bee To my left jagged lines run throughout a tree stump Overhead rays of sunlight peak through the leaves Under my feet dirt and dried leaves gather With every breath I take The smell of hot air and dirt flow into my nose The sound of a bird chirping is ever so faint Hidden under the noise of the obnoxious car alarm But even then I am able to make out the beauty of the chirp The curves of the wooden chair Press into my hand as I push myself up and Out of the chair Why must I leave this majestic space Just to go back into a stuffy dull building Wasting away

“One wild and precious life poems�

Stephanie Arlington An old basket Dead plants hanging, Relaxing.

A graceful tree Petals falling, covering the ground, A blanket.

A rusty fountain Blue pebbles flowing over, Mimicking the water.

A strong heat Sweat rolls down my cheek, Wiped by a cool breeze.

A peaceful place Unique plants and statues hold their pose, Serenity.

Stephanie’s Photo Collage

Mulching Madness By Quyen Mulching is something that many people never think about. But as the 7th graders at the Westridge School For Girls recently learned, mulching is an activity that anyone can do and it’s also good for the environment.

On a recent Thursday, a group of students worked hard in the heat and sunshine to cover invasive plants with mulch, with only a small break in-between. All of their effort was certainly worthwhile. By the end of the day the whole area was covered in mulch and the girls were good and tired.

Mulch is usually made up of decayed organic materials commonly found in gardens or wooded areas, which can be collected and put elsewhere to help the soil. It is used to retain moisture and increases the soils’ fertility. “Mulching has been around for a very long time,” said a helpful environmentalist. “Even before we knew how to mulch, the trees would mulch themselves.”

The girls faced several other challenges besides the heat and hard work. There was poison oak all over the field and plenty of bugs, too. Even a snake managed to make an appearance, which didn’t harm the girls but sure frightened them.

A bright-eyed 7th Grader, Kat Albert, shrieked, “SNAKE!” as she pushed her poor friend towards the small creature. Fortunately the unwelcome and quite curious visitor managed to slither off.

I asked some of the girls how they thought it went overall and I got many different answers.

Zara Abbas said to me, ”It was fun until Kat pushed me into the snake.” Sophia Duncan said that she wishes she could have stayed there all day.

Many other girls said they learned a lot, worked hard and had a lot of fun.

Barbaric Yawp Poems Mud Pies Quyen HOORAY it has rained!

A torrent of water in buckets and barrels And my backyard has turned to mud Turned into my playground!

I dive into the wet mess!

Stripped of my clothes!

My cares!

My dignity!

I backstroke through rivers of liquid soil!

Oceans of crud!

In fact the whole hillside came down in last night’s drencher Took two houses with it – my neighbors Do I care?

Should I? That annoying boy Gerald who lived next to me Who always pulled my hair The freckled-face creep He must be somewhere far off now Washed away To China? Maybe?

Farewell, freckle face I will make mud pies now and sell them Three dollars each, thank you Oh, but why make that sour expression – they’re healthy!

Full of minerals and nutrients!

And they taste quite good as well!

Would you like any beetles on that?

Keep the change, my lady For now my mother calls And it’s time for my bath.

Barbaric Yawp Poems Caroline May 23. 2014 Change Black smog clouds haunt me like a ghost When I am in the city In the garden however I am at peace With the soil under my toes And mud on my knees I sit quietly while my roots grow into the ground The journey is fascinating Stretching through each inch of soil I encounter a new friend It speaks to me through the healthiness of soil It tells me what I am doing wrong and It instructs me what to do right Complying with my new friend I return within twenty-four hours I dump my what I used to look at as trash On to the dirt floor I sit down and once again Sink my roots into the floor And begin to converse with my now old friend

Barbaric Yawp Poems Stephanie Realize My bare feet grip the moist soil below, The base of our world, so strong, holding everything.

A home for so many living animals, plants, and organisms.

Creates all the beauty surrounding us Something that everyone wants to get rid of “ew dirt,” but we couldn't survive without it.

For I have never realized the importance of this soil, I have walked on everyday.

I hope it realizes the importance of me.

“A Day in the Garden” a New Hit Song by Quyen https://soundcloud.com/wushuquyen/soil-unit-song

Rip out your free propaganda poster here:

Letters From the Editors Dear reader, Before this soil unit I didn’t even care about soil. It helps farmers and we walk on it. So what? I have learned that there is so much more to it than that. Soil channels our water and farmers rely on it for food production. It’s home to thousands of organisms. I didn’t just learn about why soil is important, I also learned how soil is made. Before this unit I thought it just kind of popped up.

Now I know that there are many stages before soil is really soil.

I think it’s really cool that we got to make a magazine with articles and a cover page and everything. Just like in the water unit, when we got to make a website. It gives us two different experiences. It was very interesting to learn about nematodes. Basically nematodes are little roundworm-like organisms that live in the soil. I think the best thing about them is that they’re cannibals. Just kidding -- that actually disturbed me for awhile.

A HUGE part of what I learned about was what goes into our food. I learned so many shocking things that made me never want to eat again… but there was pie at the commons. I learned that white bread is better for you than wheat bread, but they are both horrible for you. I learned what a mono crop is and how much corn is grown. Now that I’ve learned about all of the crap that

goes into the food that we thought was healthy, I have persuaded my family into going to a farmers market at least once a week. I also try and tell my friends. I remember last year, my friends’ family was really into organic stuff so they had a garden and everything they ate would come from the garden. I used to think they were crazy and that there was no need to be that extreme. Now I realize that they are much healthier.

The part I think I’ll always remember about the soil unit is how much fun I had. I never thought hard work could be so much fun. When me mulched my arms felt like they were about to fall off, but I was laughing and smiling the whole time. Another example is today when we had many different stations where we different soilrelated things. We learned about trees, mulched some more, made newspaper pots, made some compost tubes and planted some plants.

So the truth is, I kind of thought this unit would suck and that I would rather have normal classes (math, science, English and history.) I’m actually really glad I did this though. I had so much fun and I learned a lot! I would like to thank all the teachers for putting this amazing unit together and I hope they continue it for the many years to come.

Sincerely, Quyen

Letters From the Editors Dear Reader,

sive plants and how mulching is helpful to the ground’s soil. Mulch helps keep moisture in Until I started the Soil Unit, I didn’t think the ground, but don’t place it too close to a about soil or why it was important. All that I oak tree because it could cause mold to grow knew was that it was that stuff I walked on on the roots. Digging around in the dirt, I reand planted in. I also didn’t care where my alized how important it is where you place food came from, as long as it was on plate, your plants. You need to take all the possible prepared when I was hungry. Unearthing all factors into consideration: sun needs, water the different information that the Soil Unit needs, and spacing needs. Clicking at a comhad was fantastic experience. The Soil Unit puter, I researched about nematodes. Who never ceased to amaze me, challenge me, or knew such a small creature could benefit teach me. something so much? From searching on the My knowledge has grown immensely internet to digging my hands in the soil, I was since the nineteenth of May. Soil. Such a sim- always learning. ple word, but such a complex item. Without My challenges were quite simple comsoil there is no food, and there aren’t a healthy pared to the challenge of now doing somehabitats for animals; we need soil. Channeling thing about his soil issue. For me, the biggest water, absorbing pollutants, and acting as a challenge was missing a day of classes, due to foundation to several buildings soil is not a sickness, and having a chunk of my material something to be overlooked. Not only did I cut out. Lucky for me, I talked to teachers and grow my knowledge about soil, but on other my group mates to solve that issue quickly. interesting subjects as well.

The surprises lied within the inforOn my journey to Arlington Gardens, I mation that I ascertained. It was shocking was taught some background information on how much I need to change my lifestyle, so I Labyrinths: Labyrinths have been around for am providing a more healthy life for me and around 5000 years, and have been used as a the earth’s soil. way to calm the mind. During my morning I will certainly take this information classes, we watched videos and learned about with me throughout my life, and strive to urban gardens. Urban gardens are on the rise, make a difference. This experience has been a as they are very helpful and healthy for a huge eye opener for me, and I can’t wait to go community. While sitting at a desk in the afinto summer with a new outlook. ternoon, I learned how important it is to THINK about where your food comes from.

Your Editor, Most corn is sprayed with heavy pesticides to Caroline kill the bugs, but organic heirloom tomatoes are grown in a natural state with no pesticides.

In Altadena mulching, I learned about inva-

Letters From the Editors Dear Reader, Working on this magazine has faced me with challenges and never failed to surprise me. Everyday I discover something new writing this from the science of soil to poster designs.

What I learned working on this magazine is that everything is connected to soil and the importance of it. Before this experience I had never really put much thought into “dirt�. I also learned the science of dirt: how it is formed, how it disappears, how it works etc. Mulching was something else that was new to me. Mulching reduces the amount of weeds that are grown (instead of spraying harmful chemicals), locks in the moisture of the plant, improves the health of the plant, and looks better.

Soil is on of the most important things in our lives. It is what we walk on, get life from, get the air we breath from, grow our food from, and is the beauty that surrounds us.

One of the most important things for life is slowly disappearing every day thanks to soil erosion. Not only are we losing soil, we are also losing other main characteristics fro life such as water. We are destroying our planet!

I hope after reading this magazine you are now informed on how crucial soil is and how to treat it because if we don't take care of it, the soil won't be here for long. Working on this E-zine was a wonderful experience and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed making it.

The Editor, Stephanie